


this afterlife of you and i

by all_their_intricacies



Series: not even death could keep me from you, darling [2]
Category: Tenet (2020)
Genre: Fluff, Honeymoon, Inspired by Art, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27450790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/all_their_intricacies/pseuds/all_their_intricacies
Summary: Neil’s just about to reprimand himself for being so inattentive, but quickly remembers that he’s dead now. Dead men don’t have to worry so hard about people coming after them all the time. Dead men can just put aside their ingrained paranoia and training, and enjoy the much-deserved, much-awaited honeymoon with their beloved.
Relationships: Neil/The Protagonist (Tenet)
Series: not even death could keep me from you, darling [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2005612
Comments: 15
Kudos: 104





	this afterlife of you and i

**Author's Note:**

  * For [grus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/grus/gifts).



> who sent me this lovely piece of [fanart](https://halcyon1796.tumblr.com/post/633966208736215040/what-if-neil) that inspired this whole thing, which was supposed to be a small drabble, something to help me out of the writing drought, but well, things happened hah.
> 
> i decided on the name _David_ for the protagonist (re: [this post](https://iamtheprotagoneil.tumblr.com/post/630058263031971840/hoo-boy-names-are-my-favorite-thing-to-talk) on my blog), because it makes more sense to me now that neil would refer to his husband by name rather than just the protagonist lol. that's something to keep in mind for those who're familiar with the first part of this series (which you definitely should read before this one, if you haven't yet).

“Why are you sitting on the floor?”

The question comes softly, but still suddenly enough to startle Neil out of his focus on the page he’s been reading. He’s just about to reprimand himself for being so inattentive, but quickly remembers that he’s dead now. Dead men don’t have to worry so hard about people coming after them all the time. Dead men can just put aside their ingrained paranoia and training, and enjoy the much-deserved, much-awaited honeymoon with their beloved.

Neil takes a deep breath at the reminder, relaxing his tensed shoulders, and turns his head to find his _own_ beloved standing at the bedroom door, arms crossed loosely over his chest. He’s leaning against the frame, expression a mix of amusement and concern as he looks down at Neil. Neil offers him a smile in return, soft and placating.

“The bed was too comfortable, and it was making me a bit drowsy. So,” he gestures at the floor, where a disarray of books and papers sit, “I thought a change of scenery might be best.”

David raises an eyebrow. “Was it?”

“Well, I definitely feel more awake now,” Neil replies, which ironically calls up a yawn that Neil tries to suppress, but fails. He covers it up with his right hand; the pen he’s holding perches haphazardly between his fingers.

Faintly, Neil hears a sigh fall from David’s lips – faint, sure, but still unmistakable to Neil’s trained ears. He shifts his gaze back to the floor, back to the book that’s no longer interesting to him, just to avoid the concern overtaking his husband’s expression. Neil bites down on his lower lip, awaiting the lecture about his own limit and how he likes to break it so much.

But... the lecture never comes. Instead, footsteps do, approaching Neil with a measured, unhurried pace. He doesn’t look up, still, when the footsteps stop; doesn’t look over when David places a pillow down besides Neil and takes a seat atop it. Neil keeps his functioning eye glued to the pages in front of him, when David loops an arm around Neil’s waist and pulls Neil closer to his chest.

Neil doesn’t look – in fact, his eyes are no longer open – just allowing himself to be drawn in, to relish in the warmth radiating from his beloved’s body. Neil’s own body has been so used to it – has spent the past several weeks reacquainting with it, carving it straight into his memory – that his movements now seem more instinctive than anything.

The only downside to this, Neil muses regrettably, is that the drowsiness he’s moved to the floor to avoid is slowly returning, bringing with it the exhaustion that’s clung stubbornly to his body ever since this afternoon’s session of physical therapy. It keeps Neil’s heavy eyes shut tight; keeps him still in place and enjoying the hand gently massaging the sore muscles of his neck and shoulder.

“You should’ve gone to bed if you were tired, baby,” David says quietly, hot breaths brushing against Neil’s cheek, seeping deep through the bandage covering his left eye. “I would’ve been fine eating dinner alone.”

“Wasn’t tired,” Neil retorts uselessly, objection lost to the contentment in his voice.

“Right,” David intones, teasing.

Neil crinkles his nose, lips pursing. “You spent the whole evening cooking dinner for us,” he pries his right eye open to glance up at David, “I don’t want it to go to waste.”

“I can always heat it up for you tomorrow.”

“It wouldn’t be the same,” Neil points out with a contrite note to his voice.

David, instead of replying, only lets out a hum, somber and thoughtful. Although, he doesn’t allow such emotion to stay for so long, swiftly replacing it with something a bit more lighthearted. The smile on his lips isn’t as dazzling as the one he’s woken Neil up with this morning, but it’s still enough to take Neil’s breath away.

“We should go eat now, hm? Before you fall asleep for real,” David’s saying – and Neil’s only aware of it because he’s staring too intently at his husband’s.

Neil’s too mesmerized by the fluent movement of David’s lips around his words, that it takes him a moment too long to process them. He wants to – eat dinner with his husband, that is; has tried to keep himself awake just for it – but he can’t imagine leaving this space for anything. He’s been so immersed in David’s warmth, too comfortable in his arms, that Neil doesn’t think he could ever leave for any place else.

“Hm, maybe in a little bit,” he manages to say after a moment, eyes falling shut again, head resting on David’s shoulder.

There’s a small chuckle sounding up from above Neil’s head, but Neil doesn’t pay it any mind – too happy with his current position and the feelings engulfing him to be bothered by it. David, despite his initial reaction, doesn’t give any protest to Neil’s suggestion.

Instead, he stays in place, one arm around Neil’s waist whilst the other still rubbing soothing circles on the skin of Neil’s neck. His chest rises and falls with every breath, making Neil feel like he’s floating on the open sea outside the balcony in front of them.

It creates such a poetic image in Neil’s mind – the ocean at night as their back drop, the distinct aroma and feel of the Mediterranean surrounding their senses, and their beloved safely tucked in their arms.

 _I could die like this,_ Neil finds himself thinking, then chuckles quietly when he reminds himself that he _is_ already dead, and not for the first time.

“What’s so funny?” David asks, lips pressing against Neil’s hair.

Neil doesn’t know how to explain it, so he only smiles, shifting his head to gaze up at his darling husband. “Nothing. Just thinking of some old memories.”

David hums again, noncommittal, and doesn’t press. Instead, he cocks his head to the side, eyes catching on the book that Neil’s abandoned in exchange for the warmth of his lover’s embrace.

“What were you reading?”

Neil furrows his brows, trying to search through his foggy mind for the name of the book. When he finds it – which took longer than Neil would care to mention – he recites it to David, then the summary – containing a list of advanced physics theories – as well when David asks for it.

“Sounds interesting,” David says with a lost expression on his face.

Neil just can’t help it; he laughs, curling on himself in David’s arm. David doesn’t seem to mind though, only tightening his arm around Neil’s waist, pulling Neil even closer to his chest.

When the laughter fades, Neil looks up at his husband, his eye not covered by the white bandage gleaming under the dimmed lights overhead. For a moment, that’s all they both do – looking at each other as if nothing else exists, entranced by a spell created from the color of each other’s eyes. David’s hand on Neil’s neck is moving up a little – up and up before finding its place on Neil’s cheek.

Only then, do their eyes lose sight of the other’s, but not to move anywhere else. Instead, they fall shut, lips moving in closer and close before, finally, meeting each other halfway. Their kiss is a soft one – unhurried, aimed to be nothing more than a reminder that they have each other now, along with all the time in the world.

David is the first to pull away, setting them back to their previous position, with their eyes caught on each other’s once again. Neil’s hand – which has found its place in the curls of David’s hair – moves down to place over David’s hand on Neil’s cheek, holding it with the same tenderness he finds in David’s eyes.

“I love you,” Neil says quietly, a confession meant for no one else but the man in front of him – the one he would (and _has_ ) sacrifice everything for.

“I love you, too,” David replies without missing a beat, and Neil can only think, _Heaven truly is as beautiful as they say._

Overtaken by the affection, the adoration, the _utter_ devotion flowing between them, Neil buries his face in the crook of his beloved’s neck, breathing in his scent, his love, his warmth. David hugs him tighter, peppering kisses all over Neil’s hair.

They only separate when Neil’s stomach makes itself known, reminding them of what David had come to the bedroom for. Neil would’ve felt more embarrassed, but there is nothing but happiness flowing through his bloodstream right now.

David, for his part, doesn’t mention it, only asks simply: “Dinner?”

Neil nods, and allows himself to be helped up, and then out to the dining room, where dinner has been set up, awaiting them. The food has mostly gone cold, but delicious still.

They don’t talk much while they eat, content with the silence between them – the kind of silence people could only achieve through a lifetime of knowing each other and more. Neil’s sure that isn’t quite the truth yet for them, but it feels just the same.

When dinner is finished, they remain in their seat, letting the rhythmic sound of ocean waves fill up the space between them. Neil nurses his glass of apple cider, eyes gazing out to the sea outside the sliding glass door leading to the backyard. In a trance, he asks David about their next destination.

Their honeymoon has gone on for weeks now, but they are also supposed to be dead. Dead men, amongst other things, don’t have to abide so strictly to conventional traditions. Still, Neil wonders.

“I don’t know,” David admits simply, “I haven’t thought about it yet.” He shifts his eyes to the sea, watching the way the waves coming to crash against the rock beds. “I quite like it here.”

“Yeah?” Neil intones thoughtfully.

David’s eyes find his, a smile tugging on his lips. “Yeah.”

“We’ll stay, then,” Neil finds himself saying, heart ticking up a beat inside his chest.

“You don’t mind?”

“Darling,” Neil says, eyes going soft as he gazes upon his beloved, “as long as I have you with me, I’m fine with any place in this earth.” _In this afterlife of you and I_.

David doesn’t reply – or, at least, he doesn’t reply _out loud_. The emotions gleaming bright in David’s dark brown eyes, under the stunning smile on his lips, are enough to let Neil know: _the feeling is mutual, my love_.

Silence, once again, settles between them as they finish the rest of their drink, both opting out of seconds. The cleanup is abandoned for tomorrow-them to worry about, because right now, their bed calls their names enticingly, and they can’t find it in themselves not to answer.

David helps Neil to the bathroom, setting him by the sink as they brush their teeth, going through the rest of their night routine side-by-side. Then, David takes his time checking over each and every one of Neil’s bandages, and the wounds underneath them. Once he’s content with their adequate condition, he helps Neil return to the bedroom, settling them both in bed, next to each other.

Neil presses himself tight against David’s side, resting his head atop of David’s chest. David has picked up Neil’s book from the floor, holding it in one hand whilst the other placed gently over Neil’s back. He scans over the notes left on the page margins, nose crinkling at the chicken scratch that is Neil’s handwriting, but makes no comment on it.

Instead, he asks, “Where did you leave off?” It sends small vibrations down to his chest, rousing up Neil’s sleepy mind.

“Third paragraph, I think. Left page,” Neil answers, sounding already half-way to sleep.

David finds the mentioned paragraph quickly, and begins reading aloud the words beyond his comprehension. The lull of it, paired with the muffled sound of ocean waves outside the window, carries Neil softly into slumber, with his heart filled with nothing but happiness and love for the man of his life right beside him.

**Author's Note:**

> per usual, my [protagoneil blog](https://iamtheprotagoneil.tumblr.com/), if you want to read my ramblings about these two.
> 
> as always, comments and kudos are much appreciated. honestly, i read and check each one; y'all are so precious to me <3


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